Bobby Parnell‘s fastball might not be what it was, but it was enough on Tuesday. Terry Collins decided to stick with his one-time closer to finish off the Toronto Blue Jays with 1.2 innings of work to end the game. It was a well-deserved rest for Jeurys Familia who had pitched 4.2 innings over four games in five days, and welcomed a baby in the middle of that stretch. Hopefully this is a precursor that Parnell is still the effective late-inning reliever we fans were used to seeing. His big strike out in the bottom of the eighth with the go-ahead run on first base was proof that you don’t have to throw 98mph to get the big outs.
Oh and some guy named Matt Harvey wasn’t too bad either, pitching seven strong innings, striking out six and walking no one. He also only gave up four hits to an offense that before facing the Mets had 69 hits in their previous six games. And he had an RBI double, just his third hit of the season and his first rib-eye steak. The Mets have now won three games in a row, and five of their last six. The team flies to Toronto to finish up this odd four-game series before heading to Atlanta then Milwaukee to hopefully beat up on them and keep this positivity rolling.
Six games over .500
Harvey back on track
Parnell getting it done in the 9th
Back-to-back wins over a hot team in the Jays
What a great story for Bobby Parnell. After basically 1.5 years of not playing, he has finally come back to pitch in big situations. It concerned me that he allowed the second run to score, but he saved the game: that’s all that matters.
Imagine the bullpen, post-All Star break: Parnell in the 7th, Mejia in the 8th, Familia in the 9th.
Think that would help with the starters’ innings limits?
Don’t forget Blevins should be back post All-Star break too.
We know that a pitcher doesn’t have to throw 98 MPH to get big outs. Most don’t. The question is whether Parnell can consistently survive this season with 5 MPH off his fastball.
My guess is that he’ll be erratic. Hopefully he’ll have a better FB over time.
I am a fan.
This bullpen is already very good. Mejia, Black, Goedell and Blevins are still missing. I am glad to see Parnell come back and get the save. I hope he has a strong showing in the next month. He is a free agent at the end of the year and currently making $3.5 M. The current depth, and future depth of the bullpen, would make Parnell an ideal trade chip at the deadline.
It sure makes your team look good when the bench players, Tejada and Cecilinni, contribute. I am not fond of this 8 man bullpen and four position player allignment. TC needs to manage his bullpen better.
I’m not a Parnell Fan, but his save last night was pretty high on the list of feel good stories! Congratulations Mr. Parnell!!!!
His Mix didn’t impress me with the old 98mph hammer— maybe (Hopefully!) he’s added something that will outrun what he’s lost.
1. Congrats to BP for earning a 5 out save in a very high leverage situation. That was a genuine accomplishment he, the team, and all Mets fans can celebrate!
2. Maybe I saw something else than others. His reaction at the end of the game confirmed my feelings. This was done with smoke-and-mirrors, duct tape, and bailing wire. He got that. There was no wild celebration, just a big deep breath and a shake of the head when TdA came up. Look the win is the only thing that matters and he made it happen.
3. His most effective pitches were slow sinkers and breaking balls. There were times I thought he looked like a position player throwing. I think he benefited from being a pitcher with virtually no book on him. He got quite a few looks at flat, center-cut, low speed pitches that surprised me. He wont be able to get away with that kind of stuff again. He was best nibbling the zone with slow stuff. As noted, his cholula fastballs were a bit on the wild side, giving rise to more fear of being ht than anything.
4. This was a great save. It made a great building block. I just hope we dont need to do this kind of thing regularly.
Yeah, I felt that we barely escaped another disaster at the end (I’m also talking about Carlos Torres!). Let’s hope that Familia is available most of the time, and, if not, then Meija. I am curious to see Morris in there, somewhere, sometime…..